What? New Avengers? Weren’t we just in the middle of Dark Avengers business? I assume past me was right, I don’t know. Someday, this event will start, but it is not this day! I wonder if there were The Hood fans. They say every character is somebody’s favorite. Hard to imagine, though. We’re back with the usual gang, as well as guest artist Daniel Acuna, like before, as we pick up on this series’ own cliffhanger, an very familiar territory:
Spider-Man falling to his death?! Acuna’s art even looks like a refined version of the 70s, I say affectionately. Sort of the way Steve Rude’s stuff looks like someone smoothed out and polished a Jack Kirby drawing. This is like Ross Andru for fancy people.
It’s been so long I forgot if Spidey knows Mandrill is there. I hope not, it’d be even more embarrassing than fighting the Griffin to not immediately figure this out. He almost gets it as he keeps trying not to hurt Jessica, but seems to think she might’ve gone bad… for some reason… also. Back at the ruined Avengers hideout, one HAMMER dork with delusions of grandeur is trying to convince another one who is not into it that they can go arrest the Captains America and become famous. Their argument is cut short when the smart one’s head is disintegrated by a stray from the Living Lightning. Then an off-panel Luke Cage belts the survivor.
It’s a weird juxtaposition, these 2 artists on the same issue. Acuna’s lovely but kinda stiff painting, Immonen’s kinetic cartooning. Not the most comfortable fit. It’s not so bad since they’re doing unrelated scenes, but still. As a superhero comic, you theoretically want someone who can do big action. But it’s the 2010s and superhero comics are more about people talking now, so someone who draws ’em very pretty has a clear appeal, too.
A wild Nick Fury appears. His Secret Warriors having a “The List” special was not an accident. Back at the Spider-Fight, well, it’s another 2 pages of the same, except Jessica can talk again, and Spidey tells her she can fight it. Then it looks like she kills him, but that’s a trick to draw the villains in, so Spider-Man can web Mandrill in the mouth.
Rather Buscema Punch-y there, Daniel, good job!
Back at the Captain America Party, Nick says the “killswitch for all life model decoys” to make sure that’s the real Steve Rogers, and then the rest of his team are revealed just in time to announce…
Well, that fight got a lot bigger very fast, and yet that panel is all you get of it. 2010s!
Remember the end of New Avengers Annual 3? Remember how it portrayed all these people finding out Steve was alive, and it went nothing like this? How can one writer contradict himself so badly and so often? It’s really crazy. Well, there we are. Bit of a spoiler for the events of Siege, but hey, we’re actually gonna cover the first issue next time, so there’s that. It’s funny to me that this issue ends on the only 2 classic Avengers in the comic and “Avengers Assemble!” and all, but neither of them is in the right costume. What a time…